Heat stroke ruled cause of death for football player

Nahdi Nah, third from left, mother of Edwin "Dek" Miller, 16, of Germantown at a July 15 memorial service at Northwest High School. A preliminary autopsy report cites heat stroke as the cause of death for her son, who died July 6 after collapsing during football practice at the school July 2.

An autopsy has tentatively concluded that the Northwest High School football player who collapsed during practice in July died of "complications of heat stroke," according to a preliminary report that has not been made public.

A spokeswoman for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Washington, D.C., which conducted the autopsy, could not elaborate Tuesday afternoon. A formal announcement is expected by month's end. According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, heat stroke is defined as "a condition marked especially by cessation of sweating, extremely high body temperature, and collapse that results from prolonged exposure to high temperature."

Edwin "Dek" Miller collapsed July 2 when the high temperature was 81 degrees. He died four days later at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

The 16-year-old wide receiver from Germantown had been participating in voluntary conditioning drills at the Germantown school.

"I'm not a doctor and I don't know what all a stroke entails," said Alston Nah, Miller's uncle. "I don't understand how a person can go into the hospital conscious and then die. Something went wrong and this is all just one big mystery."

According to earlier accounts, Head Coach Mark Maradei said coaches performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on Miller as he lay on the track. Maradei, who rushed to Miller's side as soon as he heard the teen collapsed, has said he believes "everyone did what they were supposed to do."

A message for Northwest Principal Lance Dempsey wasn't immediately returned and the coach could not be reached for comment.

There have been 39 heat-related football deaths in the U.S. since 1995, 29 at the high school level, according to the Annual Survey of Football Injury Research, released in February by the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research at the University of North Carolina.

Nah said he is frustrated that it has taken so long for his family to hear what caused Miller's death.

"It's been more than three months," Nah said. "I've been in touch with them every week and haven't heard anything."